Maintaining a lush landscape or garden in Central Florida requires a lot of effort, time, and the right materials. Mulch plays an essential role in keeping your plants healthy and looking their best.
While you can purchase mulch just about anywhere these days, the quality of bagged mulch is often compromised with hazardous materials and toxins.
Here at Reliable Peat, we are dedicated to producing only the highest quality products at the lowest prices, while always making our customers a priority, and providing the best customer service in the industry.
We look forward to the next 40 years of producing and providing the highest quality products available to the Horticulture and Agriculture industries.
Is your landscape mulch toxic? Shawna Coronado explains in her wellness blog.
Your garden mulch might be toxic – this season I did a lot of research on mulch and I am concerned about the level of toxic chemical exposure for gardeners because garden mulch can be toxic. According to the UMassAmherst Center for Agriculture, Food, and Environment, mulch “comes from recycled wood, i.e. wood scraps, wood pallets, and wood reclaimed from construction and demolition waste”. This wood is often used for high-end dyed mulch because it is extremely dry and ready to absorb the dyes at the mulch processing facility. Dying the mulch covers up the ugly wood and enables companies to charge the end consumer more for a product that is less-than-perfect.
Unfortunately, recycled waste bark and wood are often contaminated with chemicals such as chromate copper arsenate, and creosote. Construction and demolition waste seems to have the highest chemical levels that negatively impact the soil in your garden. Another form of chemical exposure happens when mulch is “treated” with pre-emergent herbicides. The idea of this treatment is to keep weeds down, but it also prevents you from planting seeds in your soil because the herbicide stops seeds from growing. Having these types of chemicals in your garden is not good for you or the environment.
3 Reasons to Consider an Organic Mulch Product –
Organic mulch is certified so you can be assured your organic vegetables and herbs will be safer to eat
Organic mulch is better for your regional water table and the environment as a whole because you know what chemicals – or lack of chemicals – will be put on your garden
Organic mulch is safe for you to use without gloves and reduces chemical exposure to the gardeners on your property
